My life and work—I’m not quite sure where one begins and the other ends—is interesting and fulfilling in the aggregate, but many (ok, definitely most) tasks are monotonous and repetitive. Perhaps you can relate. Hours are spent weeding, processing greens, washing trays, sanitizing those same trays, sifting dirt, planting 30,000 individual pea seeds each week, … More Listen to my audiobook for free!
In addition to pumping out microgreens, the heart of the business, I’m on a mission to produce the very best salad mix in Duluth and the surrounding area. I have every advantage. Being close to Lake Superior, temperatures generally remain moderate in summer. Also, my farm (more of a market garden really) is so small … More Mine is smaller than yours
Like a crop overwhelmed by great swarms of locusts, our joy can be sapped by tremendous crowds of people. This is especially the case after driving roughly 3,333 miles (nearly half our usual annual total!) in search of spring, peace, tranquility, family time, and r&r. Sometimes, however, the frustration and dissonance brought on by the … More Crowds can be a good thing, and traveling screen-free with kids
I was handed the $10 bill for a past bulk delivery of microgreens. What a surprise! I excitedly told my friend that Alexander would be joining our family on a cross-country trek through the Smoky Mountains. Perhaps he’d make it all the way down to the ocean with us! Alas, it wasn’t meant to be. … More Household economy stabilizing through family businesses
A heart attack throws a monkey wrench into the morass of gearworks linking tasks, business, and agendas, within a busy life. It all spins along in some semblance of efficiency—messy as it is—interconnected with other busy lives. Without warning, everything grinds to a halt. And, you wait. What once seemed vital—tumbled over obsessively in the … More All I want for Christmas….
The hard work of life will never be split perfectly down the middle 50/50 between two willing partners. Ever. The sooner you come to realize that, you’ll be happier, and your partnerships across all areas of life will be healthier. In any partnership—business, marriage, friendship—the workload shouldered by each individual is always fluctuating, never static. … More The key to successful partnering. And, how did the chickens go?
18 months ago, I was mired in a painting project, about to turn 40, and super depressed. Book sales had plateaued. It was painfully obvious that writing was not going to feed the family for the foreseeable future. To top it off, the carpenter working in the same house had a serious gastro-intestinal issue that … More Guesting on my favorite podcast in the whole wide world. Unfortunately, my bladder did too…
